Cutter-bar control for weed-mowers



w. F. K'ASPER.

CUTTER BAR CONTROL FOR WEED MOWERS.

APPLICATION HLED AUG-1B. I916.

Patented Jan. 27, 1920;;

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W. F. KASPER.

CUTTER BAR CONTROL F-OR WEED MOWERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I8. 1916.

32 3 Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

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' CUTTER BAR CONTROL FOR WEED MOWERS.

- APPLICATION FILED AUG-I8, I916. 1,328,836.

Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEEI' 3.

W. F. KASPER.

CUTTER BAR CONTROL FOR WEED MOWERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1M6.

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WALTER F. KASIER, OF FAIRMON T, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO FAIRMONT GASENGINE 8c RAILWAY MOTOR GAR (30., OF 'IEAIRMONT, MINNESOTA, ACORPORATION.

CUTTERPBAR CONTROL FOR WEED-MOWERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

Application filed AugustlS, 1916. Serial No. 115,699.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER F. IiASPER, a citizen of the United States,resident of Fairmont, county of Martin, State of M1n nesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutter-Bar Controls forced-Mowers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines used for mowing grass and weeds on eachside of a railroad track and the object of the invention is to simplifyand improve the system of control mechanism of the cutter bars to theend that less labor will be involved and the operators of the car willhave quicker control of the cutting mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

The invention consists generally in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described and particularlypointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a small fiatcar of the general type used byrallroad section men, with my improved weedmow- ,ing mechanism and levercontrol mounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is a side view, partially in section, of the same,

Fig. 3 is an end view, also partially insection, showing a cutter barloweredto a lionzontal position,

Fig. 4 is a similarviewa. showingthe mowing mechanism on one side oftheoarlow- .ered .to substantially its working level,

Fig. 5 is a similar view, 'illustratingthe mowing mechanism raised to;an inoperative position for movementto another point on the railroad.

In the drawlng, 2 represents a fiat-earrof the type-usually used onrailroad sections,

having an axle 3 andcarryingwheelsto roll upon'the track :5. -6-is a-.-sl i-aftn ounted inbtheirame of the cariand having a clutch 7 andvariable speed drive bolts 8 and 9 connecting the shaft with the axle-3Byshiftingthis clutch-the; s-axle may be drw'en at=d1fferent speeds, asdesired. For .imtancc, there may be one working speedrandzanother whenthe cutter bars are .lraised for the car fromplaceito 'placeionrtheline. This shaft-.6 isigeared at 1.0 to a counter shaft 11 -,which hasavdrivingwbelt connection .12 with .shaftdand by means of these twoclutches the operators of the car can control the movement of the cutterbars and at any time can disconnect theseclutches and drive the carthrough the high speed belt 9 when it is desired to move it rapidly fromone point to {another on'the section or division of the roa The mowingapparatus proper, which I mount on each side of the car and connect withthe shaft 6, I-will now describe in detail, and as the mechanismon oneside corresponds to that on the other I will use the samereferencenumerals on both sides with the addition of the exponent a onone side .to indicate the different parts.

13 is a bevel gear, mountedto bed-riven through-the clutch .7 andmeshing with a pinion 14: on a stub shaft 15 which is journaled in abracket 16 and carries a crank disk 16'. A bracket 17 is securedto theframe of the car and a shaft 18 .is journaled therein, concentric withthe shaft o-fjthe crank disk 16 and a bar 19 is mounted on this shaftand projects outwardly therefromand is pivotally connected at 20 toashoe 21. A pitman22 is pivoted at one end on the crank disk 16' and atits other end is pivotally connected to a-cutter bar 23 that is mounted.to slide in the shoe 21 and the usual guide bar 24. A brace .25 ismounted at one end on the bar 19 and at its other end is pivotallyconnected with a bracket 26 onthe frame of the car, the pivot of thisbrace on the bracket being concentric with the axes of the shafts 15 and18to permit freedom of vertical movement of the cutter bar, as willhereinafter appear.

An arn127 is secured to the shoe 21 and projects upwardly therefrom anda similar "arm28 is loosely mounted; at one endon the ;shaft 18 and isfree to rock thereon and substantially 'a parallel link motionytotheextent *thatmovement of one ann imparts a corresponding travel totheotherrarm; IA

1; chain 130 extends fromthe upper end of the :28 around .a' sheave,131Tmounted ina tion the car is moving while operating the lever. Thislever is provided with the usual locking latch 36 by means of which theoperator can hold the lever in any desired posi tion on the quadrant. Atension spring 37 connects the arm 27 with the frame of the car andyieldingly resists the downward pull of the shoe and guide bar 24 andcutter bar. The frame 37 is mounted on the car to extend transverselythereof and is secured to a the platform.

Upon the bar 19 I provide a clamp 38 having a flexible connection 39passing over a sheave 40 mounted on the frame 37 to a second sheave 41and from thence to an operating lever 34 corresponding to the onedescribed and operating in the same manner and in a parallel verticalplane for the purpose of lifting the barl9 from the horizontal positionshown in Fig. 3 to the raised position illustrated in Fig. 5, said barswinging on the shaft 18 as an axis during this movement. The levers 34and 34 are spaced apart a sufficient distance to allow the workman'tostand in the rear of them and operate one lever with one hand and theother lever with the other hand, and as both levers move in the samedirection, it is evident that a workman will have easy and quick controlof the cutter bars and their supports, and as the workman will be facingthe track over which the car is moving, he can easily watch for anyobstruction and raise the cutter bars immediately whenever occasionrequires, the tension of the spring 37 assisting the operator in theinitial upward movement of the sickle bar.

A second clamp 42 is mounted on the bar 19 and has a flexible connection43 passing over a sheave 44 and attached at 45 to said sheave. Thissheave 44 is also mounted in the frame 37 and has a cam 46 on its outerconnected will gradually decrease as indicated, in Fig. 3, the cam beingso made that the decrease in leverage of the spring thereon will beproportionate to the extension of the spring. The result is that thepull of the 'in the bar and secured by suitable means,

such as nuts 51, and the mowing apparatus will be securely held in itsraised, inoperative position andthe car may then be moved to some otherpoint on the section or division of the line.

\Vith this apparatus the men on the car have perfect control of .themowing mechanism and as they stand facing-the front of the car or thedirection of travel, they will have perfect view of the cutter bars andthe road ahead. The manner of mounting the bars on the frame of the carprovides for considerable angular movement of both the cutter bar guideand the supporting bar, making it possible to raise them sufiiciently toclear cattle guards or other obstructions without the necessity ofstopping the forward motion of the machine. The manner of mounting thebars and the balancing springs connected therewith insures ease ofoperation, and the arrangement of the operating levers provides plentyof room for the workmen and aclear vision ahead of the car.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination, with a railroad car platform, of a frame mountedtransversely thereof and extending from side to side of said platform,bars pivoted at their inner ends on said platform and mounted forvertical oscillation, guide bars pivoted on the outer ends of said firstnamed bars, cutter bars mounted in said guide bars and a suitableoperating mechanism therefor, sheaves mounted on said transverse frameat intervals across said platform, flexible means having runningconnections with said sheaves and with said pivoted bars and said guidebars respectively, and levers mounted in pairs uponopposite sides of themiddle portion of said platform and connected respectively to saidflexible means, said levers of a pair being spaced a suitable distance:

apart for an operator to stand betweeen them and movable forward andbackward in the direction of travel of said car, whereby a workman canmanipulate a lever with each hand and face the work ahead of the car,springs connected with said platform.

' bars for normally resisting downward umovement thereof, and means forequallzing the tension on said lowered.

' 2. The combination, with a car, of a bar springs assaid bars arepivoted thereon, a cutter bar guide and shoe pivoted on saldbar,'l'evers mounted "on said car and having flexible connections with"said bar and sh e for tilting-them, a sheave mounted on said car andprovided with a cam surface, flexible means connecting said bar withsaid sheave, a spring normally tending to resist the downward pull ofsaid flexible means, and a connection between said cam surface and saidspring, the leverage of said cam increasing proportionately to theextension of said sprlng.

3. The combination, with a railroad car, of a bar pivotally supported inthe frame of said car at one side thereof and projecting outwardlytherefrom, a shoe pivotally supported on the outer end of said bar, acutter guide bar carried by said shoe, an arm rigidly mounted on saidshoe and projecting .npwardly therefrom, means normally resistingdownward movement of said pivoted bar and said cutter bar, a drivingmechanism for said cutter bar, flexible means connected with saidpivoted bar and having a running connection with said car, a springconnected with said flexible means, means for equalizing the tension onsaid spring as said bar is lowered, a pivoted bar having a flexibleconnection with said ratchet bar and operating levers mounted on the carand having flexible connections with said pivoted bar and with saidpivoted arm, said operating levers being mounted for forward andbackward movement on the car to allow a workman to face the work whilethe car is in motion. 7

4. The combination, with a railroad car, of a bar pivotally supported onthe frame of said car at one side thereof and projecting outwardlytherefrom, a shoe plvotally supported on the outer end of said bar, a

cutter guide bar carried by said shoe, an arm rigidly mounted on saidshoe and projecting upwardly therefrom, a helical spring connecting saidarm with said car and normally resisting downward movement of saidpivoted bar and said cutter bar, a driving mechanism for said cutterbar, a sheave mounted on said car, flexible means connected to saidpivoted bar and passing over said sheave, a spring connected to saidflexible means, a cam device in connection with said sheave forequalizing the tension on said spring as said bar is lowered, an uprightpivoted bar near said car and having a flexible connection with saidratchet bar, and operating levers mounted on said car and havingflexible connections with said pivoted bar and with said pivoted arm,said operating levers being mounted for forward and backward movement onthe car to allow a workman to face the Work while the'car is in motion.

5. The combination, with a car, of a bar pivoted thereon, a cutter barguide, a shoe pivoted on said bar, levers mounted on said car and havingflexible connections with said bar and shoe for tilting them, a springconnected with said barfor normally resisting downward movement thereof,and means for equalizing the tension of said spring as said bar islowered.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of July,1916.

WALTER F. KASPER.

Witnesses THEO. CLEMn'rsoN, CLARA MOLSTAD.

